Data Impact
The Data Impact Program partners with governments to expand the use of data to enhance public health planning and policy development, applying local data and evidence to accelerate action.
Approximately half of the more than 200 Data to Policy briefs directly influenced government policy in over 15 countries.
We helped generate more than 290 Data to Policy briefs; 24 directly shaped government policy across 15+ countries.
More than 200 data reports and dashboards have been developed in partnership with government health departments and statistics offices.
Cervical cancer prevention policies informed by Data Impact analysis in six countries are projected to avert 250,000 lifetime cases of cervical cancer and 140,000 cervical cancer deaths.
Why It Matters
In many countries, valuable health data—from civil registration records to routine health information systems—remain underused, leaving policies and budgets to be set without the evidence they need. When governments can analyze, interpret and act on data effectively, health systems are better equipped to identify priorities, allocate resources and design programs that improve people’s lives.
How We Work
Governments and Vital Strategies’ staff collaborate on tailored technical assistance across people, processes and products, building institutional data use capacity that strengthens public policy decisions.
We work together with government partners to develop tailored technical assistance and catalytic support that addresses pressing public health challenges and policy issues. For example, in Peru, analysis of causes of death over 30 years informed new policies on vaccines and cancer screening. In Papua New Guinea, emerging leaders developed over 60 data improvement plans focused on data quality and review processes. In Ethiopia, Maharashtra State in India, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines and Zimbabwe, analysis of data on maternal deaths led to innovations and investments to save mothers’ lives.
Government ownership is embedded in all of our work through joint planning, co-creation and collaborative analysis. With our partners, we plan how investments in people, processes and products can deliver sustainable capacity and lasting impact. Every partnership is tailored to local needs, so that capacity and tools are embedded within government and built to last. While we work most intensively with focus countries under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative, we also provide technical assistance to other projects, such as the Data for Health Global Grants Program and the ImpactHDSS Project funded by the Gates Foundation.
Areas of Focus
We support data use in three main ways: enriching people’s capacity via training and mentoring; strengthening processes and systems; and developing clear and compelling products to communicate and inform priorities.
The Data Impact Program
The Data Impact Program’s dedicated website, featuring country case studies, stories of impact, resources and tools.
Vital Strategies e-Learning Platform
Vital Strategies’ e-Learning platform, offering free courses on data analysis, civil registration and vital statistics, Data to Policy, epidemiology and public health reporting. Courses are available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative’s site, showcasing how investments in civil registration and cause-of-death data are driving health policy change across 82 countries.
